With the holidays comes a festive spirit and, for many, a flurry of cooking and baking.
Children are especially excited and may want to help prepare holiday food. Whether decorating cookies or stirring gravy over a stovetop, children need close adult supervision in and around the kitchen.
"It's very easy to become caught up in the holiday fun of doing things," Chae Li Yong, a health educator with the Madison County Health Department said. "Helping out with cooking can be a wonderful learning experience for children, but it can also be dangerous. It's crucial for parents to supervise children closely and set strict rules for kitchen safety."
Madison County SAFE KIDS recommends the following tips for keeping children safe as they learn to help out in the kitchen:
- Be sure you've taken essential safety steps before introducing a child to cooking, such as having a fire extinguisher nearby and posting emergency numbers near the phone.
- Never leave a child unattended in the kitchen. Close supervision is essential, whether children are helping an adult cook or are simply watching.
- Never hold a child while cooking.
- Put pans on back burners and turn all pot handles toward the back of the stove.
- Use caution when heating food and liquids in the microwave: supervise your child when he or she is near or using a microwave, and never let a young child (under ages 10 to 12) remove heated items from the microwave.
- Make sure you and your children wear close-fitting clothing when cooking.
- Make sure you and your children have your hair tied back. (Hair can easily catch fire.)
- Place hot foods and liquids away from the edges of counters and tables.
- Pay particular attention to items sitting on tablecloths or place mats so that children cannot pull hot food or liquid down and scald themselves.
- Unplug appliance cords and keep them tied up and out of children's reach.
For more information, please call Chae Li Yong at Madison County Health Department, (618) 692-6200, ext. 6086.
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